Durability of laptops
A clogged heatsink on a 2.5 year old laptop.

Due to their portability, laptops are subject to more wear and physical damage than desktops. Components such as screen hinges, latches, power jacks and power cords deteriorate gradually due to ordinary use. A liquid spill onto the keyboard, a rather minor mishap with a desktop system, can damage the internals of a laptop and result in a costly repair. One study found that a laptop is 3 times more likely to break during the first year of use than a desktop.

Original external components are expensive (a replacement AC adapter, for example, could cost 75 US$); other parts are inexpensive—a power jack can cost a few dollars—but their replacement may require extensive disassembly and reassembly of the laptop by a technician. Other inexpensive but fragile parts often cannot be purchased separate from larger more expensive components. The repair costs of a failed motherboard or LCD panel may exceed the value of a used laptop.

Laptops rely on extremely compact cooling systems involving a fan and heat sink that can fail due to eventual clogging by accumulated airborne dust and debris. Most laptops do not have any sort of removable dust collection filter over the air intake for these cooling systems, resulting in a system that gradually runs hotter and louder as the years pass. Eventually the laptop starts to overheat even at idle load levels. This dust is usually stuck inside where casual cleaning and vacuuming cannot remove it. Instead, a complete disassembly is needed to clean the laptop.

Battery life of laptops is limited; the capacity drops with time, necessitating an eventual replacement after a few years. The battery is often easily replaceable, and one may replace it on purpose with a higher end model to achieve better battery life.

When doused in water, laptops tend to explode.